Stable cleaning device



May 26, 1953 H. A. TONAGEL ET AL STABLE CLEANING DEVICE Filed July 13, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS M y 1953 H. A. TONAGEL ETAL 3 STABLE CLEANING DEVICE Filed July 15, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Hue/1 A. E/VAGE; LEO TEPHAN/ IN V ENTOR.

Patented May 26, 1953 STABLE CLEANING DEVICE Hugh A. Tonagel, Washington Township, La

Porte County, and Leo Stephani, Union Township, La Porte County, Ind.; said Tonagel assignor to said Stephani Application July 13, 1949, Serial No. 104,508

8 Claims.

This invention relates to stable cleaning devices, and more particularly to a power-operated device by means of which'the gutters of a dairy barn or stable may be cleaned.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a device of this character by means of which cleaning of stable gutters is accomplished rapidly and easily by power-actuated means under full control of the operator at all times.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which is power-actuated and which includes control means extending lengthwise of the gutter to be cleaned and accessible at all times by the operator, said control means permitting the user to manipulate the device as required for use under all conditions.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which is installed permanently in a building but which is adjustable or shiftable between different predetermined operative or working positions, in each of which positions full control is afiorded at all positions along the working path of the device.

Other objects will be apparent from the following specifications.

In the drawing: 1

Fig. l is an elevational view of the device as positioned in use within a ham or stable.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l. I

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in side elevation of a runway which is used with the device.

Fig. 4 is a side view, illustrating the runway in use in loading position.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a part schematic view illustrating a modified embodiment of the invention.

Fig. '7 is a part schematic view illustrating still another embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 to 5, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral l0 designates the floor of a building, such as a dairy barn or stable, and the numeral I2 indicates the ceiling line of the same building. The floor of the building is preferably provided with gutters or troughs formed therein, as shown in Fig. 4, adjacent the animal stalls (not shown) provided in the building. If desired, the building may have any selected number of gutters I4 preferably arranged parallel to each other and each juxtaposed to a row of animal stalls.

- A runway area will be located along the ofeach groove or gutter as is customary, and

' end.

along which a wagon or other wheeled device, such as a manure spreader, may be positioned. Thus, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, a manure spreader having a box or body portion [6,-wheels l8 and suitable spreader mechanism 20, is preferably used in conjunction with the device.

In its simplest aspect our improved device, intended for the purpose of removing litter, debris, manure, etc., from the gutter or trough for deposit or discharge in the box IE of a wagon or manure spreader, comprises a unit 22 adapted to be propelled by a power-driven unit 24 under selective manual control by a controller 26 so that it may traverse the length of the gutter, and also an inclined slide unit 28 extending between the gutter and the wagon. The drive unit 24 and the control unit 26 maybe permanently or detachably mounted in the barn or stable and, if desired, can be constructed to be movable in the stable from place to place to clean different gutters, and, in the latter case, said units are mounted upon a carrier unit 30.

The driving unit 24 of the device comprises one or more hangers 32 adapted to be secured to an overhead support and depending downwardly from that support-with their lower end portions mounting one or more bearings 34 in which is journaled a shaft 36. The shaft 36 has fixed thereon a drum or reel 38, includinga cylindrical reel portion and enlarged end plates 40. The drum or reel is adapted to have wound thereon a cable, chain or other elongated flexible member 42 of substantial strength, one end of which is anchored to the drum and the other end of which is freeand adapted to extend for connection to the scraper unit 22.

The shaft 36 mounts thereon a sheave, .pulley or other drive transmission element 44. As here illustrated, the member 44 constitutes a pulley around which is trained a belt 46, also trained upon the drive sheave or pulley 48 mounted on the shaft of a reversible electric motor 50. The motor 50 is carried by any suitable structural support 52 adapted to be suspended from the ceiling of the building or from any overhead structure adjacent to the hanger 32 and associated parts. The motor will preferably have associated therewith speed reduction gearing (not shown) so that the speed at which the drive output shaft upon which the pulley 48 or other transmission member is mounted will operate at a selected low speed. Further speed reduction means are provided as illustrated by the ratio of sizes of the drive transmitting members, such as the small size of the,

pulley 48 and the comparatively large 'size of the pulley M. The parts are so arranged or correlated that the speed of linear travel of the cable or other member d2 will be substantially the normal walking speed of an individual. While one form of drive unit 24 has been illustrated, it will be understood that changes may be made therein as desired. Thus the, shaft 35 may be directly driven from an actuating motor or other prime mover or may be driven through gearing or any other desired type of drive transmission interposed between the prime mover and the cable reel.

The scraper unit 22 comprises. a blade. d pref erably of a width to fit slidably in the. gutter id.

and to span the same, so that. as it. is propelled or pulled along, it will propel the debris in the gutter lengthwise thereof, The blade 55 has. a. handle portion projecting upwardly therefrom by means of which it may be guidedv and manipulated. The connection between the cable and the scraper unit preferably is madeat 58 adjacent the upper-portionef the blade and in transversely balancedrelation so.- that the. pull of the cable will, propel the scraper and will maintain the same anormal working attitude by the requirement of only slight. manual exertion applied by grip the handle 55*.

The skid or inclined member 2-8; utilized to guide the movementv of the scraper unit 22- andto elevate the same and the litter and debris prflpelled thereby for discharge into the wagonbox l6. may bee-Eth c construction illustrated in Fig; 3. The unit 22' thus preferably comprises a fiat elongated sheet, cpl-panel lit; fermeclofl metal, wood or: other suitable material, and prefer-ably of; av width throughout its major portion slightly greater thanthewidth of the gutter i l. The lower: end portionfiz; will, preferably be somewhat narrower to; f t. snugly within the gutter. its sidesabove. the narrow,- portion- 62 thereof, the panel; fill has side walls 64 serving as guides and being spaced apart a distance somewhat. greater than, the W dth 0,1? the blade lip: so, that, said blade 54 may freely over the; length of the; panel: ill); and between the, sidewalm dd. The panel, 60' is; preferably fia thseue'heut at least the; major portion o its eaten-t, but, if, desired, may have its. lower e 19 portion, curvgedat 63, as shown, in Fig. 3-,,in.- stead of beingv fiat throughout as illustrated. in: Big. 1;; The panel tjlimay have one or more longitudinal elongated members 66' fixedly securedtherete-. The member or members 66 serve as guides for adJ-ustably positioning and securmg a hook or-posi-tioning member, here shownas provided with anelongated shank: portion 6.8 and a pair of laterally angularly' projectin ears lit spaced apart and. defining a notch.- l-2-.- therebetween so; oriented, that it may lit over the edge of, a. portion oi? the wagonbox I6. As illustrated the guide member 5i; may have a plurality of. longitndinallyspaced apertures; 1% formed. therein, and the shank $3 of the; hook of positioning; member may have one. or more openings; therein,, and, suitable pins, bolts or other securing. means. may beemployed to secure the shank; 6.8- to. the, guide SE. in selected position longitudinally oi the, panel, Gil. It will be apparent, that the longitudinal adjustment of the shank 68.1 of thepositioning, member will ailord, a measure of, control, 012 they angle of, inclination of, the panel Bil. In. particular it will afiord adjustment to insure, that, a iven. angle. found most effective can be maintained when the height of the topv edge of the wagonbox' l6 of successively loaded wagons differs. inv other words, the. skid. unit;

illustrated is adjustable to compensate for differences in the heights of wagons or units to be loaded.

The control unit 26 includes a bracket having a base portion 80, two or more depending arms 82 and suitable reinforcing braces 84. The bracket i mounted upon any suitable overhead support, with? 'the depe'nding arms located ad jacent to and above the gutter Hi and with a plane therebetween substantially parallel to said gutter. The arms 82 are provided with bearings,

' guides or apertures adjacent their lower ends,

within. which anclongated rigid rod or bar 86 is slidably mounted 'fand supported. The bar 86 may beat any length found suitable and preferably will be of a length substantially equal to the length of the gutter It to be cleaned and be positioned thereab'o've parallel thereto and within reach of an operator walking alongside a gutter to guide and manipulate the scraper 2:2. The members 82 constitute hangers and, while only twothereof have been shown, it will be understood that any greater number may be employed as desired.

An electric controller or switch lsd, preferably oi. the type having arotatable or swinging actuating arm, 90-, is mounted. upon the bracket with its actuating arm fiu located, adjacent to the red 86. The rod 86. preterably mounts a sleeve 92 fixed thereon and from which projects a. rod 94 rotatably mounting a.- -sl.eeve d6 at-its outer end, which sleeve is adapted. to have a slide fit upon the controller rod. 99., Thus. it. will be apparent thatas the rod 846 is shiftedlongi-tudinally, such movement will be translated bytheparts 32,, 9.3 into actuating movement. ot the controller arm 90 The, controller will, preferably be ot the character having twdoperative posit-ionseand a neutral inoperative position: sothat i-t will have efiect, forward, reverse and: steppositions. The controller will be connected. to a suitable source of power and. in turn; isv connected by the; leads 98 with the motor 5% so as to control that motor which, as, previously, described, is a reversible motor. I

It will be apparentthat by meanest this construction. the, operation; of. thedevice is; rendered simple and is easily controlled.

Regardless. of, wherethe, operator stands with respect to the length of the gutter M being; cleaned,,he.can alwavsaperataithe device quickly and with the assurance. of positiae response. There. is. no. limitation as tothe points at. which the operator must be standingor. located. to efieet this control. In. norm-a1v operation of the device, therefore, it will be apparent, assuming that use of the device: is. to; commence following spotting of the wagonv it, ill and-1 positioning of. the slide.- 28,, the bar 8.6 will; first. be, actuated. to set; the controller for motor operation. in, cable release direction, sothat theoperator carry or. pull the. scraper. 22 to the end; of. thegutter Hi re' mote from. the. vehicle t5, lit. When this Slli1r= ing. position is reached, a: small nianipulationiof: the bar 8'61 will-actuate. the. contrpller. tc-=stop;ther

L operation of, the, motor; whereupon thBr-USQI'; can

properly position the; scraper blade within the;- gutter, Wand. can prepareltor working; operation; of, the. device, which. will. commence; upon; fimtherv manipulation of the. rod. 85,- in. a manner. to start: the, motor. In the, normal. operation at; the; device, assuming thauri'oz unforeseen difficulties; have occurred, the operations or ,the motor? will. continue in. forward. or. loading. direction, until the, scraper 541-. has traversed the length, oil. the.

gutter and also the length of the panel 60 of the transfer member 28 and discharged its contents into the vehicle body box I6, at which time the user can easily and quickly manipulate the rod 86 to stop themotor. The user, however, is not limited to manipulation and control of the device at the starting position and at the stopping or discharging position. Thus, if he should encounter any difiiculty at any point intervening between those positions, he can instantaneously and conveniently stop the device by reaching up for the rod and, if desired, in using the device, he can walk with one hand held aloft alongside the rod 86 to reduce the time required for response to any emergency condition requiring stopping of the device.

The rod 86 may serve the additional function of actuating a brake 31, as best seen in Fig. 2, upon the shaft 36 of the cable drum 3%, if desired. The brake 31 may be of any desired character having actuating means 39, and the rod 8t may be extended to a position adjacent the brakeactuating means 39 and may be provided with a part 85 engaging said brake-actuating means. In the preferred arrangement of the parts they will rod 8'5 is in its neutral position, the brake 31 will be actuated to hold the drum 38 against rotation, but, when in either of its two operating positions, the part 85 will be disengaged from the brake actuator 31 to permit release of the brake.

While the device has been illustrated and described above as applicable to the cleaning of gutters which extend parallel to the control rods 86, its use is not so limited. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate that, by the use of sheaves or pulleys I50, suitably placed in a building, the cable 42 may be so trained and guided that the scraper 22 may be used to clean gutters l4 and M extending in spaced relation to and at angles to the gutter adiacent to which the control rod 86 is located. In the form of Fig. '7, the device must be operated by two men, one of whom is stationed at the control rod 86, and the other of whom handles the scraper 22. Alternatively, where gutters extend at angles to each other, individual elongated controls 86 and 86, as shown in Fig. 6, may be provided therefor for each, in which event only one worker is required to operate the device. In the Fig. 6 embodiment, the two rods 86 and 86 are pivotally connected at 81' to a member 87 which is in turn pivoted to a support at 89. The parts are so arranged that whenever either of the members 86, 86 is shifted, the other is shifted similarly and equally.

Many barns or stables are of a size such that they have multiple gutters therein and quite commonly those gutters are substantially parallel to each other, or at least the major portions thereof are arranged in parallel. In such instances it is possible to construct the device to move from a position juxtaposed to one gutter to a position juxtaposed to any of the gutters parallel thereto. As shown in Fig. 1, brackets I may be fixedly secured in a stable or other building, as at the ceiling thereof, to mount elongated track elements I02 which extend transverse of the gutters l4 and may be of any length necessary to extend to all of a plurality of parallel gutters. A carriage 104 spans the tracks I02 and preferably journals rollers I06 which traverse said guides. The carriage may mount carriers 80, 82, 84 of the control unit 26, carrier 52 for supporting the motor 50, and hangers 32 for supporting the drum winding cable 38, 40. Such a construcbe so constructed and arranged that, when the tion is shown in Fig. 1 and it will be apparent that the rod 86 or any other parts of the device depending to a level within'reach, although nor- .mally all in a position to provide head clearance pended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A device for cleaning stable gutters, comprising a scraper having a blade portion and a handle portion; an actuator unit including a reversible vmotor, a motor driven drum and a cable wound on said drum and connected to said scraper to propel said scraper along a selected path; and a control unit including a motor controller electrically connected with said motor and an actuator for said controller, said actuator constituting an elongated overhead member extending alongside said path and connected to said controller whereby it may be reached and manipulated by an operator grasping the handle of said scraper, while the scraper is traversing said path.

2. A device for cleaning stable gutters comprising a scraper having a blade portion and a handle portion; an actuator unit including a reversible motor, a motor driven drum and a cable wound on said drum and connected to said scraper to impel said scraper in a selected path; and a control unit including a support, a motor controller electrically connected to said motor and an actuator connected to said controller, said actuator being elongated and shiftably mounted on said support in an overhead position substantially parallel to said path and within reach of a person handling said scraper.

3. In a device for cleaning stable gutters comprising a scraper, an actuator having a reversible motor, an elongated flexible pulling member connecting said scraper and actuator to mov said scraper along a work path, a motor controller electrically connected with said motor, an overhead support mounting said controller and having a pair of guide openings, a rigid elongated substantially horizontal member shiftable in said guide openings and extending adjacent to said work path throughout at least the major portion of the length of said path, said member bein connected to said motor controller.

4. In a device for cleaning stable gutters comprising a scraper, an actuator having a reversible motor, an elongated flexible pulling member connecting said scraper and actuator to move said scraper along a work path, a motor controller electrically connected with said motor and having a part shiftable on a vertical axis, an overhead support mounting said controller and including a plurality of guide portions, and an elongated substantially horizontal rigid member shiftably carried by said guide portions and connected to said shiftable controller part, said member being positioned adjacent and substantially parallel to said path and at a height within reach of a person walking alongside said path.

5. In a device for cleaning stable gutters comprising a scraper, an actuator having a reversible motor, an elongated flexible pulling member connecting said scraper and actuator to move said scraper along a work path, an overhead support having depending guide portions, :1 motor controller electrically connected with said motor and carried b said support and having a projecting part swingable on a vertical axis between a pmrality of angularly displaced operating positions, an elongated horizontal rigid rod shiftably carried by said guide portions adjacent to said projecting controller part and within reach of a person walking alongside said path, and a connector fixed on said rod and coupled with said projecting controller part.

6. A device for cleaning parallel gutters of a stable, comprising a gutter scraper, a cable connected to said scraper, a cable actuator, a reversible motor driving said actuator, a controller electrically connected with said motor and including an elongated horizontal handle portion positioned overhead and within reach of an individual operating said scraper, an overhead track adapted to extend transverse of said gutters, and a carriage mounted on said track and shiftable therealong, at least said cable actuator being mounted on said carriage. I

7. A device for cleaning stable gutters, comprising a scraper having a blade portion and a handle portion, an actuator unit including a reversible motor, a motor driven drum; a drum brake and a cable wound on said drum, said cable being connected to said scraper, and a control unit including a motor controller electrically connected with Said motor and an actuator ffii Said con= V 8 ti'oll'er, said controller aetuator constituting an elongated overhead rigid 'I'neinbei' Within reacn of a person operating said scraper, said elongated member being coupled to said drum brake to actuate said brake.

8. A device for cleaning angularly disposed gutters of a stable, comprising a pair of angularly disposed elongated rigid substantially horizontal overhead members within reach of an operator, a bellc'iank link p-ivotally conneting' adjacent portions of said members, a potver driven gutter scraper a drive motor therefor, means connectmg said motor and scraper, and a controller elect'rlcally connected with said motor and having a plurality of operative positions, means connecting said controller and one of said first named members.

HUG-H A. TONAGEL. LEO STEPHANI.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,007,912 mack NOV. 7, 1911 1,668,815 Livingston May 8; 1928 1,695,846 Harding DEC. 13, 1928 1,699,175 Yarn Jail. 15, 129 1,772,932 Braehn l- Aug. 12, 1930 2,493,581 HOOCl Jail. 3, 1950 

